May The Gods Be With Us
by A.S.N.9900
Summary: It's their final year of school before going off to college. No more mysteries, they prayed. But, a few newbies, both students and teachers, and a few surprising conversions may just guarantee this year is anything but mystery-free. Rated T for violence in later chapters and mild swearing. Mostly by the author.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, people! Here I am with a new and improved version of The Gods Are With You. I'm gonna change the title to May The Gods Be With Us just so you know. Originally, this chap was going to be longer but I figured I kept you guys waiting long enough. So Chapter 1 everybody! Sorry if it sucks, I'm not very good. Grammatical and typographical errors bound to be found all around! Oh, and flames _appreciated_ and _encouraged_. Read on!  
**

**Chapter 1**

It was a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon as a black taxicab pulled up in front of the school. Fabian Rutter quickly gathered his things into his satchel, paid the driver and got out.

"Back in the old cove again, eh?" he asked himself as the taxi drove off, "I wonder if Nina's coming back this year?"

Just then, another black taxicab pulled up directly behind him. Before he could turn to face it, the door closest to him opened and sent him sprawling to the ground. The door that had hit him opened and heavy footsteps rushed to his side.

"Oh my God!" a male voice yelled from above him.

Fabian flipped himself onto his back and looked up to see Eddie Miller looking down at him with an outstretched hand and grin on his face. He grabbed Eddie's hand, pulled himself up and dusted himself off as Eddie said,

"Dude, you okay?"

"Eddie," Fabian started, "I was just hit in the back with a metal door and made contact with solid ground the hard way. What do _you_ think?"

"Well hello to you too, Fabian." Eddie replied sarcastically, before getting serious and saying, "How was your vacation?"

"It was awesome!" Fabian said, enthusiastically, "My parents got me a ticket for a ride on the London Eye, then I went to an exhibit on Ancient Egy-"

"Okay, boring!" Eddie groaned, "Have I got a surprise for you! Guess who came back this year?"

Just then, a head of dirty-blonde hair popped up and turned around, revealing-

"Nina..." Fabian breathed.

"The one and only." she grinned.

In two seconds flat, Fabian had pushed Eddie aside, run over to Nina's side and hugged her tightly, twirling her around in the process.

"Aaaaaaaah!" she shrieked excitedly.

"I take it you missed me?" she teased as he put her down gently, her back facing the taxi and arms around his neck while his were around her waist.

"Missed you is an understatement!" Eddie scoffed from the other side of the taxi.

"Oh really?" she teased.

"Yeah, I was kind of a wreck." he shyly admitted.

"To be fair," she whispered in his ear, "I was kind of a wreck myself."

"Oh really?" he mocked.

"Hey, don't tease me! I heard all about your little episode from Edison over there!" she said, nodding her head towards Edis- I mean, Eddie peering curiously at something behind them.

"Do you know what he's looking at?" Nina asked as she narrowed her eyes towards Eddie's gaze.

"I have absolutely no idea." Fabian answered.

Just then, the door behind Nina opened and smacked her in the back.

"The name's Eddie!" he yelled from inside the taxi.

"At least you stayed up." Fabian teased reassuringly.

"Shut up." Nina whined as Eddie got out of the the taxi from the other side.

Right then, Eddie let out an extremely high pitched shriek just as a head of reddish-brown hair popped up from the other side of the taxi.

"What was that for?!" he asked as he turned to his left to face Patricia.

"Hello, Weasel dearest!" Patricia chirped sarcastically.

"Hey Patricia." Nina said.

"Hey Nina." Patricia said. "Nina!"

Mimicking Fabian's reaction, she ran over to the American's side of the taxi, pushed Fabian aside and hugged the girl so tightly, Amber would've been jealous.

"I missed you so much!" Patricia said as they let go of each other, "Not as much as some people, but still..."

"Anyways-"

"Wait, I've a few questions for our dearest Nina here." Patricia interrupted, "I thought you couldn't come back last year because with you being around Eddie, bad things would happen?"

"Yeah, but I figured "What's the worst that could happen?" Nina shrugged.

"Ancient Egyptian gods cursing us for the rest of our natural lives?" Patricia suggested.

"I missed you guys." Nina simply said, "I couldn't care less."

"I could." Eddie said, causing everyone to look his way, "I mean, Thoth could decide to curse us with a never-ending stream of books aimed for our heads."

"I see you decided to brush up on your Ancient Egyptian information." Nina said, shaking her head. "Fat load of good that did the rest of us."

Right then, Patricia's face lit up with horror and she started smacking Fabian continuously on the arm.

"Ow, ow, ow!" he said, blocking her attacks with his arms, "What?!"

"Trudy's making chocolate cookies for us! And Alfie's at the house!" Patricia said yelled frantically, slapping Fabian's chest

"And...?" Fabian asked, rubbing his sore chest.

"Alfie, chocolate cookies, ring any bells?"she said, pausing between each word.

Fabian's eyes widened in response.

"What?" Eddie asked, "Is it bad?"

"It's not bad." Fabian said calmly.

Eddie and Nina wiped some fake sweat off their brows in relief.

"It's catastrophic." Fabian said, looking scared.

"How catastrophic?" Nina asked, scared.

"Say, a skunk and a stink-bomb got married and had eight children." he said, pausing to see if they understood, "I'd rather take the skunk-bomb children."

Nina and Eddie shared the same look of fear on their faces.

"Well, are we going to go stop Alfie from personally fumigating the house or what?!" Patricia yelled.

That got 'em _sprinting._

They ran frantically in the general direction of the house they'd be staying in for three months yet again.

_With _hopefully _no more mysteries, _they prayed.

Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... Dream on.

* * *

Later that night, as Jerome and Alfie planned a Welcome Back Prank, Mara and Joy were harassed by Willow, Eddie and Patricia playfully teased each other as Eddie inhaled a meatball sub and Nina and Fabian chatted rather flirtily on the couch in front of the entrance of the common room, a tall, dark-skinned girl with dark brown hair and eyes walked in.

She was wearing a red long-sleeved v-neck with thin black stripes, a black denim vest, black skinny jeans, red glasses and red AllStars Converse. Her short, curly hair was parted above her right temple and the roots there were dyed red. She also wore a pair of black diamond studs in her ears.

She looked around the room with indifference before yelling, "Hey, over here!" while swinging her arms over head to reveal a bit of her Mickey Mouse underwear peeking out.

The noisy housemates quickly quieted down and looked at her wordlessly. It was like this for thirty more seconds before she broke the silence, saying,

"Hey, how y'all doing? I'm Sammy."

"Hey Sammy." the housemates slowly replied.

"D'you guys know where Victor Rodenmaar is?"

"He's in the office up the stairs, to the left." Fabian said, pointing in the general direction of Victor's office with an arm over his head.

"Thanks." she said, about to walk out of the room.

Eddie, who, up till then, had been staring at the new girl wide-eyed, jumped up, ran over to the girl and hugged her ever-so-tightly.

"Ed, repeat after me. I am not an anaconda." she choked out.

"Well that's what you get for disappearing for two _years _without so much as a text!" he replied, putting her down.

"That's Ray for ya!" she replied, shrugging her hands into her pockets.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Patricia asked, narrowing her eyes at the two.

"Yeah, we went to the same school in the US." Sammy said.

"Oh, okay." Patricia nodded, relieved, "I thought you guys had a history or something."

"Or something!" Sammy yelled, "Definitely or something."

"Okay, cool." Patricia replied.

"Wait," Sammy said, "You're Yacker, right?"

"Yeah." Patricia nodded warily. Eddie hadn't introduced them yet, "How'd you know?"

Sammy just grinned mischievously at Eddie. His eyes widened and he shook his head frantically. Sammy nodded slowly, as if insisting something. Then,

"Fine, I won't tell her."

"Tell me what?" Patricia asked.

Sammy, who had done that on purpose, patted Eddie on the back and said,

"This is between you two."

When she had walked out of the room, Fabian looked from Eddie to Patricia and said,

"Well this should be interesting."

* * *

After Sammy walked out of the common room, she turned, ran past three suitcases and climbed up the stairs, two at a time. As she walked up, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She slid the battered Samsung Champ out of her pocket and turned it on to see a banner that read: _1 new message_. She opened it and it read:

_Having fun?_  
-A

"Haha, very funny" she said dryly.

_Well, look who got up on the wrong side of the bed today._  
-A

"When I get out of here, keep Roscoe by your side at all times." she replied to... the phone?

_No, no__!_ _Anything_ but _Roscoe!_  
-A

"What's the magic word?" she sang, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet.

_Please, I beg of you, Supreme Lord of Awesomeness  
-_A

"Wrong one." she simply said.

_Sorry, wrong number. Please, I beg of you, Your Royal bada**.  
_-A

"That's more like it." she said matter-of-factly as she reached the top of the stairs.

She looked off to her to see Victor patiently writing something on his desk.

"Time to meet the raven."

* * *

Meanwhile, in Victor's office, Victor sat at his desk, slowly scribbling on a sheet of paper. He looked solemnly at the piece of paper and reread it.

_Dear Board of Directors, _it started, _I, Victor Rodenmaar Jr., hereby hand in this document stating that after many years of service to fair institution, I have decided to resign- _

Just then, three loud knocks were heard through the door.

"Come in." he said.

Sammy popped her head in and said,

"Are you Victor Rodenmaar?"

Victor just stared at her in shock.

"What?" she asked as she walked in and snapped her fingers in front of his face, "You okay?"

"Uh, yes. Just remembering something important. I tend to do that at times." he said nervously.

Just then,- Woah, woah, woah, back up a sec! Victor_ nervous_?! New girl for the win!

"Yeah, uh, _anyways, _Mr. Sweet told me to come talk to you as soon as I got here." she informed.

"Ah, yes, Samantha Hudson, I presume?" he said, holding up a sheet of paper, "Quite the name you've got here."

"Those are just the English ones, sir." she laughed softly.

"You're a bit early, why is that?" he asked.

"My mom wanted me out of the house, I guess." she said, nonchalantly.

"Well, here are the house rules." he said, handing her a booklet, "Dinner is at seven on weekdays, eight on weekends and the cellar and attic are out of bounds."

"Rule one; the cellar and attic are out of b- Must you tell me if they are already on the list?"

"You will be rooming with Ms Nina Martin and Ms Kara Tatiana Rush." he said, ignoring her question.

"Already ignoring me, are we?" she muttered.

"You may go now." he said.

"See ya." she said, walking out of the room.

He waited until he was sure she had left and picked up the resignation letter, tearing it into two.

"Looks like I'm not going anywhere." he said.

* * *

After Sammy walked out of Victor's office, she walked towards the door leading to the girls' quarters and picked up two of the three suitcases that had previously been downstairs and had somehow gotten upstairs with ease.

The door opened and she walked in and turned to see feathers on the doorknob.

"Next time, use talons, they're quicker!" she yelled to no-one in particular.

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs, dinner had been served. The table had been laden with foods like glossed ham, mashed potatoes, a giant chicken, etcetera, etcetera.

"Wow, Trudy, you really went all out!" Patricia gasped.

"With my help, of course!" Joy interjected.

"Well, I figured, we'd be having a few extra mouths to feed so I'd..." Trudy said, trailing off as she noticed Eddie counting,

"Three... two... one... "

Right then, Sammy ran by the door and slid, landing on her hip. She quickly got up, composed herself and ran to her seat between Eddie and Nina as everyone present burst out laughing.

"I was wondering when you'd smell the chicken." Eddie teased.

"I had a phone call and as much as I wanted to end it, somehow, someway, K.O and Ray found a way to gang up on me simultaneously." she said, slightly drooling at the sight of chicken, "Over affectionate gits."

"Wait, Trudy, you said 'a few'. We only got Sammy." Nina said, pointing to the girl in question.

"Thanks for making me sound like the new family pet, Neens." Sammy said, sarcastically, "I feel so loved."

"Well, the school is trying this new exercise with the graduating students where they switch their houses to see how they adapt to new environments." Trudy said.

"What, is this something you guys do?" Sammy said, "Ignore the new kid on the first day?"

"Byron Calvin,-that's one of them-" Trudy said, ignoring Sammy as she threw her arms up in defeat, " From Isis House. There's also George Ericson. Moving from Mut House."

Just then, the sound of a door opening and slamming shut was heard.

"Hello?!" a male voice with a British yelled.

"Keep it down out there?" Victor yelled from the window in his office that overlooked the entrance.

"Sorry." the voice said meekly, though it didn't sound sorry at all.

Victor pulled back into his office and closed the window right before the voice said,

"What a welcome, people. What a welcome."

Everyone at the table laughed, except Sammy(she was still peeved about the... ignoration? Is that a word?) just as boy poked his through the door leading to the common room. He stepped into the room and looked at everyone at the table, shyly shrugging his hands into his pockets. He had soft brown hair, green eyes and wore black cuffed jeans, a white and blue pinstriped shirt, a grey pea-coat and black work boots.

"H-hey." he greeted nervously.

"Hey." everyone but Sammy greeted in unison.

"I'm Byron." he continued..

"Hello, Byron." they repeated.

"What is it with you people and greeting in unison?" Sammy asked.

They just shrugged in response as Byron noticed Sammy with a curious gaze coming his way.

"Hi." he said softly, waving shyly at her.

She bit her lip softly before waving back in response. "Hey."

He stared for a bit before being broken out of his trance by Trudy saying,

"Here, have a seat."

He sat down on the spare chair she had placed between Mara and Fabian, opposite Sammy so the seating went Nina at the head, Fabian to her right, Byron, Mara, Joy, Jerome, Alfie at the opposite end, Willow, Patricia, Eddie, Sammy then Nina, okay? Good. Back to the story.

"I know I've been here since I was twelve and all, but I don't know your names, so would you mind... ?"

"Yeah, I never got your names either." Sammy said with a mouth full of mashed potatoes and chicken.

"Well, I'm Fabian, this is Mara, Joy, Jerome, Alfie, Willow, Patricia, Eddie, Sammy and Nina."he said, pointing to each person as he said their names.

"Hi, I'm Sammy, the new kid!" Sammy said in a squeaky one as she swallowed the food in her mouth.

"What's with the squeaky voice?" Byron asked.

"She does that to everyone. Once she gets used to yo, it'll pass." Eddie said.

"Seriously, do I resemble a dog to you people?!" Sammy yelled, offended.

"Well, I'm sorry if you have slightly pointed ears and the hyperactivity of a German Shepherd." Eddie replied.

"I hate you." Sammy replied, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yeah, let's see how long that'll last." Eddi scoffed as he cut into his ham.

"So, how long have you guys been together?" Byron asked.

"Excuse me?" Sammy asked, fork in halfway to her mouth.

"I said, how long have you and Eddie been together?" Byron repeated.

"Oh, COME ON!" Sammy yelled, dropping her cutlery, "I'm trying to eat here!"

"Yeah, dude, come on!" Eddie echoed.

"Appetite lost." Sammy said, pushing her plate away and folding across her chest.

The table watched as she narrowed her eyes and cocked and eyebrow as if rethinking her decision.

"Appetite found."

Everyone chuckled at her antics.

"Now we know who's replacing Alfie now that he's gone serious." Fabian smiled.

"What can I say, guys?" Alfie said, " I'm a graduate now. I have to- Oo! Gravy!"

"And he's back." Nina said, quickly turning solemn, "Sorry, Sammy."

"It's okay. It was an honor just being nominated." Sammy said.

Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the caller ID.

"Oh, zut!" she yelled as she threw her napkin at the table and shot up, "I've gotta go!"

She ran out out of the room, up the stairs and back down, hastily putting on a black hoodie.

"Be back before ten o'clock!" Victor yelled from his office.

"Will do, Junior!" she yelled over her shoulder as she ran out the front door.

"That's weird." Eddie said.

"Yeah. He didn't yell at her for calling him Junior." Nina said.

"No, she ran out without even _trying _to shove the rest of her food into mouth." he corrected, motioning to Sammy's plate which still had a majority of the food that had been dished onto it still there.

"Then there's that too." he quickly added.

* * *

Sammy strode slowly the forest surrounding the house with her hands stuffed in her pockets and her hoodie unzipped, showing the red and black v-neck she hadn't bothered to change out of. She looked around as she walked for a few more moments before stopping. She removed her left hand from her pocket and snapped twice, stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled sharply so it went, snap snap, _reet__!_

Right then, something behind her rustled in bushes and went, snap snap, _coo!_

She walked over to the bush and cleared through it, to reveal two beaded bracelets, two rubber wristbands and a small ring. She quickly slipped them on, a bracelet and wristband on each arm and the ring on her right index finger, and took in a deep breath. The lenses in her glasses briefly flashed a weird mix of gold, silver and red in the light of streetlamps and the moon, before returning back to normal.

"I'll be round his tomorrow, yeah?" she said to the wind.

And with that, she walked back to the house.

**Alright, a few more things to let you know. 1) Please _warn _me if my OC gets even a _tiny_ bit Mary-Sue-ish. 2) My excuses for absence will be at the bottom of the next chapter. Reason being, I'm not supposed to use to use this computer and my dad's home. See ya next month!**

**PeacE!**


	2. Chapter 2

House of New Discoveries & Newbies Pt.2

* * *

The next morning, almost everyone was awoken by an extremely loud trumpet blasting throughout the house at _**six am**_. The housemates all rushed quickly to the foyer to find the source of the sound and possibly decapitate it. To their utmost shock, they gathered to find Trudy and Sammy, who had a bugle in hand, _**quite**_ _**literally **_laughing their a$$es off.

"I-" Sammy started, mimicking how she played the instrument that woke them from their slumber. "And then,-" now running in place to exaggerate the housemates' frantic, _**angry**_, jogging to the main entrance. "And-"

"What the _heck _is going on here?!" Joy yelled out, irritably stopping Trudy and Sammy's laughter short.

"I found Sammy walking around," Trudy started, "So I told her to go wake you guys up. I had no idea she was going to use the bugle though!" And with that, the two females burst into a new round of laughter.

"But you gotta admit," Sammy said, "That was pretty funny!"

"_**Funny?!**_" Fabian yelled suddenly. "I have half a mind to string you up a flagpole and be done with it!"**  
**

Sammy cowered behind Trudy, eve though she was a good head taller than the housemother. "_**Yeesh**_. First day and he's already snappy," she muttered inaudibly to herself. "He's got a long way to go if he's to keep up with 'em."

"Alright, go on, lovelies," Trudy said, shooing the grumbling housemates, "You've got to get ready for school."

As soon as everyone had left besides Sammy, Byron popped out of the room he shared with and stared at Sammy curiously, giving her once-over. "What?" Sammy asked

"Aren't you going to wear your uniform?" he replied

She was wearing a grey V-neck with long sleeves and horizontal thin black stripes, black skinny jeans, grey work boots, a black leather jacket, a grey beanie and black glasses. "Oh, this?" she asked, looking down at her outfit. "The school got into an argument with their supplier and I have to_** suffer**_."

"Oh." was all he said.

"Now, go on. Go get ready for school," she said, making **shooing** motions at him. "Alright." he laughed lightly.

Sammy turned to walk up the stairs and leave him there alone, when he said, "Hey, do you need someone to show you around?"

She stopped and cocked an eyebrow at him questioningly. "_**Around**_...?"

"Around school, I mean," he quickly amended. She thought about his offer for a while before saying, "Sure, why not?"

"Great." he smiled.

"I'm leaving in five minutes. Be done in forty-five," she said. He just stared at her sardonically and said, "You _**sure **_you don't want to rethink that sentence?"

She just laughed and said, "I'm going to see some family nearby before I head to school and I'm supposed to be there in seven minutes."

"Alright-y. Then I'll be done in an hour just to spite you," he informed jokingly.

She started up the stairs."Take longer than an hour I'm leaving your _**butt**_ behind!"

He waited for her to enter the girls' quarters before saying, "A beggar with a choice."

She **popped **up from banister overhead and said, "I always am!", before running back through the door behind her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nina sat in her room, fully dressed and writing fervently in her diary. She had been sitting there for a while when she noticed smoke seeping out of her bedside table. She pulled out the drawer to see the chimney piece from Sarah's dollhouse, literally **_pouring_ **smoke, filling up the drawer it occupied. She reached for it and as soon as she grabbed it, the smoke started to form a screen. An image of a throne of fire and stone with its back facing Nina. There was also a figure wearing a hooded cloak standing, facing the throne, with their head bowed. Unfortunately, with the hood, she could barely see their face, much less tell who they were. Fortunately, the cloak had no sleeves so she could just make out a faint burn in the shape of a bird on the back of their hand. Right then, a voice from the throne said in a regal manner, "**Has she arrived**?"

The figure responded, in an almost Darth Vader-like voice, "_**Yes**_."

"**Good**. the voice said. "**Has she been seeing them**?"

"_**Not that I know of**_, _**sire**_," the figure said shakily, bowing down.

"**No matter. We will have lots of time to make sure she's as clueless as the others. Leave no clue behind, understand**?"

"**_But that is nearly impossible to do_**, _**sire**_!" the figure cried. "_**With her abilities**_, _**she would know from miles away once I acquaint myself**_!"

"**Yes, you're right**." the voice sighed defeatedly. "**Very well**, **take this**." A _**pale**_, grey arm emerged from the throne, holding a tube of a clear gel. "**This should ward her off her power off of you for a while**. Rub it on your temples to do so."

"How will I know if it's worn off?" the figure said as they grabbed the tube from the hand.

"You will feel a burning sensation to your head and headaches the size of Kentucky." the voice said. "So I'm told."

"Thank you, sire," the figure said, pocketing the gel and scurrying away. After the figure had gone, the fire died down completely and the voice said, "I know you're watching."

Nina gasped in shock as the voice continued. "And to even the playing field..."

Four symbols glowed brightly on the back of the throne

"**Good**." The voice from the throne said. "**Has she been seeing them?**"

"_**Not that I know of, sire**_." The figure said, shakily bowing down.

"**Good. Make sure she's as clueless as the others**." The voice said.

"_**But that would be nearly impossible to do, sire!**_" The figure cried out. "_**With her abilities she would know from miles away as soon as I acquaint myself!**_"

It was quiet for a while after the figure's outburst before the voice said, "**Yes, you're right.**" An extremely _**pale**_, grey arm emerged from the throne holding a tube of clear gel. "**Very well. Take this.**"

The figure shakily reached out and took the tube. "**This should ward powers off of you for a while.**"

The hand settled back into the throne as the figure examined the gel. "_**How will I know if it's worn off?**_" the figure asked.

"**You'll have a migraine the size of Kentucky, so I'm told.**" The voice said. "**You are dismissed.**"

"_**Thank you, sire.**_" The figures said, quickly scurrying away. After the figure was gone, it was quiet again for a while, before Nina said, "Shouldn't this be over?"

"**Not quite.**" The voice said, causing Nina to shriek in shock. (**Don't. Just don't.**)

"**I'm sending you this to even the playing field. As much as I **_**love **_**playing dirty, your twisted flax would rip my head off and make it watch my body being eaten by her griffin if she found you and acolytes were left in the dark for your first clue.**"

Nina scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion and amusement.

"**So!**" The sound of a clap and the furious rubbing together of hands was heard as the fire on the throne died down. "**The twisted flax, the lasso, the folded cloth and the loaf. Each symbol with its own significant meaning. Usually vowels aren't included, but this is a special case, so.**"

Nina quickly memorized the symbols that appeared on the back of the throne as the voice said that.

"**You currently have the twisted flax. She is partially immortal, preserved from the 1500s to date by the Khonsensual curse she bears, placed upon her by the god Khonsu, of youth and the moon. Daughter of Horus and a half-mortal woman of Roman descent, she has the ability to shape-shift into any person you have seen as she also has the ability to hear, see and relive your thoughts and manipulate anything using the power of thought. Basically, anything she can imagine comes to be. Special markings denoting her as Ra's blessed and her significance symbols are etched into her back. She is one of the few half-god children of the Gods of Egypt. You will need this basic knowledge in order to control her into doing your bidding as she has a vast collection of knowledge you will need to complete a majority of your search. She will choose to work in the shadows for now until you find her identity out for yourself.**"

"But what about- "

"**And as for who she is...**"The voice said as the image of the throne flickered and changed into someone, it was hard to tell if the person was dark-skinned as wherever she was was dark, sleeping on their stomach with a pillow on their head. Four symbols glowed brightly behind her right shoulder through her red tank top. The last three were slightly faded, leaving the first one, which resembled two intertwined ropes, to glow brightest.

Fabian and Byron sat downstairs in the common room stuffing their books into their backpacks when Sammy walked in through the door leading to the main entrance, walked over to the counter between the dining area and the kitchen, leaned over and grabbed an apple. As she took a bite out, she walked over to Byron, lightly punched his shoulder and said, "_**Forty.**_"

Byron looked confused for a bit before understanding. "**Forty.**" He echoed as she walked out of the common room, still facing him.

"What's _**forty**_?" Fabian asked, not looking up from skimming through his Chemistry textbook. Byron just shrugged, saying, "I'm showing her around school today, but she's visiting some family nearby before heading over first."

"So." Fabian started slyly, reaching out to nudge his fellow Brit. "Showing her around, eh?"

Byron looked up and, almost pleaded, "It's _**nothing**_." Fabian just ignored him and said, "So, what do you think of the new girl?"

"She looks nice." Byron answered nonchalantly. Fabian , on the other hand, "_**You like her!**_" he gasped, pointing an accusing finger at the poor boy.

"_**What?**_" Byron asked, unaware of why his answer was affecting his senior so much.

"You said _**she looks nice!**_" Fabian replied, excitedly. Byron looked scandalized. "What? She's _**attractive**_! Dare I _**deny**_ it? _**No**_!" he defended.

"I said the _**same thing**_ about-"

"_**Drop it**_." Byron warned, just as Nina walked in. "Drop what?" she asked, sitting next to her boyfriend. Fabian, not wanting to anger to young boy any more, whispered his answer into her ear. After hearing his response, Nina looked Byron up and down and frowned in agreement. "Good choice."

"_**I do not like her!**_" Byron was ignored as Nina whispered something into Fabian's ear. He looked thoughtful, before whispering into her ear. She nodded erratically at what he said.

"You know, Sammy told me about you guys ignoring her yesterday, and now I know _exactly _how she felt."

Sammy strolled leisurely down the road, chomping decidedly on her apple as she bobbed her head to the music playing through her blue and black Coloud headphones. "**Download this revolution- I want all my brothers and my sisters to say- HEY! This conscious music revolution. You have to take a stand- All you have to say is- HEY!**" she sang gaily.

Just then, a brown object whizzed past Sammy, taking her apple with it as she was about to take a bite. When she noticed the apple was gone, she opened her eyes and looked up to see a falcon toss the apple in the air and catch it in its talons again. Now, most people, at this point, would look at the falcon flabbergasted and walk away slowly. But no, not Sammy. Instead, she yelled, "_**Gimme back my apple, you!**_"

The hawk squawked happily as Sammy practically _**flew**_ towards it. It flew away to escape her grasp and turned around to face her while flying to taunt her. Seething, Sammy launched herself off of a nearby tree and tackled the bird in mid-air, landing in a pile on the ground. They rolled over each other continuously, succeeding in resembling two toddlers fighting. Finally, Sammy managed to hold down the falcon and say, "Gimme back my apple."

The falcon held out its talons to reveal the apple, still dirt-free. Sammy snatched and readied herself to take a bite, when she stopped and said, "_**Please**_ tell me you washed your talons?"

The hawk shrugged as if to say, _**What're you gonna do? **_

Sammy dropped the apple in disgust and said, "You're lucky I have granola bars." She released the bird. "Ya _**nasty**_." She quickly added. The falcon let out shriek laced with amusement and flew off, doing loop-de-loops as it went.

"_**Show off!**_" she yelled, shaking her fist at the creature. She looked at her watch to see it said _**6:15**_.

"Dear Lord, I'm late! I'm late!" she yelled, rushing off down the road.

At the house, the housemates had gathered in the common room getting ready for school when Victor, Mr. Sweet and Trudy walked into the room. Immediately, all chatter died down as the housemates noticed the adults present.

"We are all aware," Mr. Sweet started, "That Ms Rush is not present with us for the start of the term." The students murmured their agreement.

"Now, the bad news, depending on how you see it, is that she will not be with us for a while as she is spending some time with family abroad. The good news is, she'll be back in two weeks!" Mr. Sweet informed them. There may or may not have been sighs of relief let out as the info sunk in.

"I thought this was gonna be a repeat of the Nina fiasco." Alfie said. "Now all we need is-"

"Oh, so now I'm a fiasco?" Nina said. Before Alfie could defend himself, however, "Also," Mr. Sweet interjected, "Last year, you all signed up to spend a part of your gap year, back here, doing what we call a **TTP**."

"How do you **double-T-P** a school?" Eddie asked.

"Wait, why did we sign up for the **TTP **last year?" Willow asked. "You were very vague."

Mr. Sweet just sighed tiredly and said, "Once _**again**_, Willow, since most of you lacked the credits you needed for recommendation, you _**all **_signed up for the **TTP**."

"I think we're all missing something _**very **_ important." Fabian said, looking around the room to see all eyes on him. " _**What the heck's a TTP?!**_"

"A **TTP**," Victor started slowly, "Is short for **T**eaching **T**rial **P**eriod. It's a period of time where you spend a portion of your gap year acting as teaching assistants to various teachers to earn your required credits for recommendation."

Everyone present stared at the older gentleman in awe, shock and… horror? Never had they heard him sound so gentle and soft. Huh. I guess almost dying protecting ten or so students from a giant gold pyramid changes a man.

"Anyways," Mr. Sweet said, slightly jarred, "The teachers you will be assigned to will be posted on the bulletin board in two weeks to give a little while to relax and so as not leave KT behind."

The students cheered loudly as they heard that. "You _**will **_still have classes, though." Mr. Sweet said, exiting as Alfie said, "Wait, you'll be _**posting teachers on a bulletin board?!**_ How does that _**work?!**_"

At the local hospital, Sammy walked in clutching the strap of her satchel as she eyed the walls, looking for the front desk. When she finally found it, she said, to the nurse sitting behind the counter, "Good morning, _**Gladdy**_."

The nurse just frowned disapprovingly. "_**Gladys**_, Sammy. _**Gladys**_." She corrected softly. "How may I help you today?"

Sammy leaned slightly over the counter to peer at the computer monitor in front of the nurse. "Here to see Jacob, please." Gladys deadpanned at Sammy. "Jacob _**who**_?" she said, as if she was talking to a five-year old. Sammy groaned dramatically. "Jacob _**Langwood**_."

"Oh, _**that **_Jacob." Gladys smirked. "Miss your big brother already?" she teased.

"_**Half**_, Gladys. _**Half**_." Sammy groaned, mocking the nurse's first statement. Gladys frowned. "Shouldn't you be heading to _**school?**_"

"Classes start at _**eight**_. It is currently _**six-fifteen**_." Sammy informed. "Don't you have a _**clock**_ on that computer?"

"Hey, I just want to get you out of here as fast as possible." Gladys teased. "Don't feel like losing my job." Sammy groaned again. "He was _**hitting on me!**_" she yelled out in exasperation

Gladys smirked. "Sure." She dragged sarcastically. "I believe you."

Sammy closed her eyes tightly. "Just give me the room number before I strangle you." she let out. Gladys handed her a slip of paper. "Room 207."

"What's the paper for?" Sammy asked, eyeing said item, confusedly. Gladys stood up and shoved the door girl in the direction of the wards. "Just so you don't forget."

"Real funny, Gladdy." Sammy poker-faced, walking off towards the elevator.

In Room 207, a Caucasian man with dark brown hair and eyes that seemed to flicker from dark-brown to gold in one eye and silver in the other, sat tossing a hacky-sack from hand to hand when four knocks thudded through the door. He stopped tossing the toy and said, "Come in."

"You decent?" Sammy said, poking her head through the door, but keeping a hand over her eyes.

"Well, it ain't bath time…" he said. Sammy walked in. "I'm surprised. The nurses here look your type. Wouldn't be surprised if you spilt pudding on yourself every other day just to get one in here."

"Oh, how I _**love **_these talks with you, sister dear." he said sarcastically. She looked him over. "Everything okay?"

He let out a sigh. "Yeah. I'm fine." She put a hand under his chin and looked him in the eyes. "Ah, ah, ah. The eyes." She said, quickly tapping under her own.

He groaned. "Sorry. I guess I don't have enough self-control to match up to the _**great Samantha Hudson**_, _**who is wearing glasses!**_"

"I'm already well-aware of your lack of self-control." Sammy said, taking off her glasses to show the same dark-brown eyes as before. "After all, it _is _what landed you _**in the hospital!**_"

"Hey." He said, trying to defend himself. "I got in here because I care too much."

"Yes." Sammy said, looking bored. "Because caring breaks your shin in four different places." Jacob ignored the sarcasm, saying, "It's _**deadly**_, I tell you."

Sammy let out a soft laugh. "Came this morning, if you're interested." Jacob's expression turned serious. "Any idea what you're up against?"

"Other than an exceedingly arrogant major whose well-aware of my capabilities and spilling more than he should, I'm not sure." Sammy said

Right then, AllStar Weekend's Can't Sleep Tonight started playing, shocking the two mismatched siblings. " _**How the hell?**_" Sammy cursed as she slid the phone out of her pocket. She looked at the caller ID and immediately brightened. Which was saying something, since her brother's presence seemed to fill her with some sort of giddiness, despite the situation.

Jacob smiled. "Lemme guess; Mum." Sammy just nodded still smiling down at the picture of her and a rather stout woman with _slightly_ red hair smiling at the camera, covered in some unknown –not that you'd want to know- substance.

"It's not gonna answer itself, ya know." Jacob teased. Sammy just held out the phone as a British female voice rang out of the device, saying, "_**SAMMY!**_"

Jacob's smile dropped as Sammy said, "A new feature."

Meanwhile, "_**HEY, SAMMY!**_"

"Hey, Mom." Sammy laughed softly. "How's everything goin' down there? The boys aren't giving you any trouble, are they?" Sammy's mom laughed. "I'm fine. No need to go all Samzilla on me." She teased.

"So, they allow phones in school?" Sammy's mom asked. Sammy glanced at her brother, saying, "No, I'm actually with Jake."

"Hi, Ms Holloway." Jacob said, letting his presence be known.

"Hey, Jake. How're you doing?" Sammy's mom inquired. Jacob, being the _**manly-man **_he was, wasn't about to let the woman baby him. "Forget about me. How're _**you **_ doing?"

Ms Holloway, on other hand, wasn't about to let it go. "Yes. Feeling _**horrible**_." She said quickly. "How're _**you?**_"

"Okay." Sammy interrupted. "Before you start reaching dangerous levels of _**care**_, where's Kellan? Shouldn't be hanging around his new _**bride**_?"

"_**HERE I AM!**_" a male voice with a British accent boomed through the phone.

"Hey Kellan." Sammy chirped. Jacob just gave his sister a strange look. "We got a lot closer in February."

His look of shock didn't leave his face. "And I gave him a Windows 8. I couldn't figure out how to use that thing to_** save my life!**_"

"_**But I can!**_" her stepfather boomed. "Hey Sammy, heard from your father yet?"

"No, not since the call." Sammy answered. "Not that I'd expect him to. What with-" She stopped short as she heard something moving around behind the door. She stood and walked soundlessly towards the door, slowly twisted the knob to reveal a stumbling Gladys.

"_**H-Hi**_." She greeted shyly. Sammy looked down at the older woman and clicked her tongue disapprovingly. Looking down at her watch, she said, "Well, that's my cue. I gotta get goin'. Bye, Mom."

"Aww, can't you stay a bit longer." Jacob, Kellan and Ms Holloway whined in unison. Sammy helped the nurse up and stood with her in the doorway. "I gotta go and I gotta go _**now**_. I promised someone I'd be back by _**six-fifty**_ and with the seals on, I'm totally spent, so I gotta go now." She ended the call.

Jacob opened his arms wide for a hug, saying, "Yeah, yeah, I heard. Now give your big, _**incapacitated **_brother a hug."

Sammy walked over to give said brother a hug and said, "I know me leaving you with these hot nurses is _**total torture**_, but I promise I'll be back next week."

Jacob just lightly smacked her on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry. I think I can hold out." As she walked back towards the door. "Don't get into any trouble!"

"Can't promise that, you know!" Sammy yelled back. "Sorta _**comes **_with being me."

"Worth a shot." he muttered a bit dejectedly as she left.

Back at the house, after Fabian and Nina were done teasing Byron, they had gathered Sibuna in Nina and Sammy's room.

"First day back and there's already some big hotshot baddie who thinks they can take over the world giving a _**ginormous**_ clue." Patricia grumbled. Fabian shrugged. "At least he's got faith in his abilities."

"Well, since we're on the topic of clues, Nina can you tell us what you_** saw**_?" Alfie said. Nina took in a deep breath and said, "Well, there were these two people in a dark chamber of sorts. I didn't see one of them because he was sitting behind a throne of fire and stone. But I could tell it was a guy, because he had a very _**deep**_ voice. The other, I'm not sure, but he or she was wearing a hooded cloak and there was a burn in the shape of a bird wing on the back of their hand. They were talking about-"

"Wait!" Eddie interrupted. "You had a _**vision**_?" Nina shook her head.

"More like I was watching a video." she corrected.

"How?" Alfie asked.

"Well, first, the chimney piece from Sarah's dollhouse started smoking and the smoke formed screen. That's what I was watching them on."

"Back to the vision, please." Alfie urged. Nina continued. "Well, they were talking about someone, a _**twisted flax**_ , and they said-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, _**twisted flax?**_" Fabian interrupted.

"Yeah. He had four symbols glowing on the back of his throne and he said they were the twisted flax, the lasso, the folded cloth and the loaf."Nina answered. "I'm not sure what they meant though."

Fabian quickly stood up to grab a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket and said, "Repeat them for me again."

Nina nodded slowly. "The twisted flax. The lasso. The folded cloth. The loaf." She said as Fabian quickly scribbled something onto the paper and when he was done, held it up triumphantly.

"What, what is it?" Nina asked everyone present gathered around Fabian to see what he had written. They stared quizzically at the four letters on the leaf of paper.

**H O S T**

**Finally done typing up Chapter 1! Sorry I'm a month late, what with extra classes for **_**two**_** major exams I have coming up (British: Checkpoint and Ghanaian: BECE (Basic Education Certificate Examination)), I have been entirely booked this Christmas season. Not to mention my family dragging me around the country to visit friends and family, attend important family meetings involving extended family members (Did you know I'm distantly related to Amu Djoleto? Kidding.) and just being undeniably and extremely lazy, it took a while to type this up. But these are not the actual reasons I mentioned for not being active on the site besides reading. Those will have their own chapter. 'Cause trust me, there are a lot of 'em. So, until next chapter,**

**PeacE!**


End file.
